Shivani murder case:HC acquits ex-IPS officer

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court today acquitted former senior IPS officer Ravi Kant Sharma and two others in the sensational killing of journalist Shivani Bhatnagar in 1999. The court, however, upheld the conviction and life sentence of the fourth accused, Pradeep Sharma, who had killed the scribe, then working with the Indian Express.

"Accused R K Sharma, Sri Bhagwan Sharma and Satya Prakash get the benefit of doubt. We, however, uphold the conviction of Pradeep Sharma in the case," said a bench of justices B D Ahmed and Manmohan Singh, deciding the appeals by the four against their conviction and sentence in the murder case.

Shivani Bhatnager was killed in her Navkunj Apartment flat at I P Extension in East Delhi on January 23, 1999. The lower court had on March 24, 2008, convicted four persons including R K Sharma, who had once served as officer on special duty in the Prime Minister`s office. The trial court, however, had acquitted co-accused Dev Prakash Sharma and Ved alias Kalu in the case. The high court in its decision acquitted three out of four convicts including the former IPS officer.